Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

When I was twenty-three years old, five months out of college, with a degree in music, and without any idea of what to do with myself, I took a job as a policeman in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and resolved to stay with it for a year because I thought it would do me good. I was lonely much of the time, as well as scared, surprised, excited, embarrassed, self-righteous, and many other things, too. I spent hours at a stretch hoping nothing serious would happen when I was working alone; I never quite shook the feeling that I was a fraud; and on several occasions, when it all seemed to be too much, I meant to quit, but I never did. -Alec Wilkinson

About the Author

Alec Wilkinson has been a staff writer at the New Yorkerfor many years, and also contributes to such magazines as DoubleTake, Esquire, and Rolling Stone. He is the author of five books, including Moonshine: A Life in Pursuit of White Liquor.

"His reporter's eye for detail is omnivorous...ear for voices is fine and precise and his perceptions of and compassion for his fellow officers are profound. Never patronizing, never amused at their expense; he portrays them as they are: underpaid, underappreciated rural Americans struggling to make it from day to day."-New York Times Book Review

"Midnightsportrays the voices and routines of believable men... he conveys his experiences with wisdom and sophistication."-Chicago Tribune

Review

"In this, his first book, Alec Wilkinson portrays life on the police force of a small (but not necessarily typical) American town as only one who had observed the workings of the department from the inside could do. The author is not the Wambaugh of Wellfleet, but he does not intend to be; instead, the book's mood is more that of Our Town—sometimes somber, often wryly humorous, and always respectful and affectionate." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)

Synopsis

Midnights A Year with the Wellfleet Police Alec Wilkinson "Midnights is a kaleidoscope of troubles-heart attacks, suicides, lunatic drivers, a car full of circus acrobats without a driver's license among them, town officials, smugglers, guns, high-speed chases, dark buildings, solitude, and self-preservation in a world where nobody loves cops. It is also an endearing and loving examination of small-town life by a superb reporter.